Writing for Performance Lab

​Inviting all artists and/or cultural workers, soulsisters and homeboys, those trans to gender and/or genre who want to explore artistic practices rooted in the politics of creating a better world.

This Writing for Performance Lab is facilitated by Virginia Grise and is based in convivial methods for radical dreaming and creative political intervention with a particular focus on artistic process, improvisation, and collaboration. The workshop series will feature guest workshops by cultural workers and artistic innovators including Felipe Teixeira Gonçalves and Kristiana Rae Colón. From quilombos (fugitive settlements in Brazil) to the Freedom Square occupation of urban street corners in the United States of America, join other artists who are actively creating spaces where we can collectively breathe, dream, and imagine a new world into existence.

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: October 15, 2016.SELECTION: Based on class size and the needs and dynamics of the group.NOTIFICATION: October 21, 2016, by e-mail.FEE: Sliding scale $50-$250(Choose the amount that’s right for you – nobody will be turned away due to lack of funds).

How to apply

Submit a document that includes the following information:1. Cover Page (that includes your name and contact info.)2. A writing sample (3 pages max) in any genre. 3. One-two page statement addressing the following questions: tell us a little bit about your life as an artist and/or cultural worker, your aesthetic and artistic practice; why you want to be a part of this series; what you bring to a group writing process; and what you wish to accomplish or hope to learn in the workshop.Materials will be accepted electronically and should be emailed as a single PDF document to: jackwritingworkshop@gmail.com.Contact Virginia Grise at jackwritingworkshop@gmail.com with any questions.

BIOS

Virginia Grise has taught writing for performance at the university level, as a public school teacher, in community centers, women’s prisons and in the juvenile correction system. She is a recipient of the Whiting Writers’ Award, the Yale Drama Series Award, the Princess Grace Award in Theatre Directing and is an alum of the Women’s Project Theatre Lab.

Felipe Teixeira Gonçalves is a member of Frente 3 de Fevereiro, a collective founded in 2004 following the murder of Flavio Sant’Ana, a young black student, by São Paulo police. Based in São Paulo, the group is made up of 21 members involved in the arts, academia and other fields. They use research, art and forms of direct action to call attention to various racial issues, tensions and stories in Brazil and around the world. Their transdisciplinary approach mainly focuses on forms of urban intervention, music and documentary media.

Kristiana Rae Colón is a poet, playwright, actor, educator, Cave Canem Fellow and co-director of the #LetUsBreathe Collective. In the wake of a militarized police response to the public outcry over the death of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, the #LetUsBreathe Collective formed as a fundraising initiative to bring tear gas protection and remedies, medical and hygiene supplies, and water bottles to Ferguson protesters. A grassroots alliance of artists, journalists, and activists, the collective uses their talents to amplify marginalized voices, disrupt the status quo, offer opportunities for healing and education, and provoke critical thought and dialogue about the intersections of oppression through film, music, theater, poetry, and civil disobedience.​